


I'm Glad You Came

by Rubyya



Category: Paranatural (Webcomic)
Genre: M/M, Paranatural Secret Santa, Secret Santa, pure fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:40:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28241040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rubyya/pseuds/Rubyya
Summary: A winter bash is happening at the dojo, and despite Max's best interest, he's going. At least Isaac will also be there.
Relationships: Isaac O'Connor/Maxwell Puckett
Kudos: 9





	1. The Story

**Author's Note:**

> A secret Santa for theevilbrainman over on Tumblr! Surprise! I'm your secret person thing! I absolutely love these two, and had so much fun writing this. I hope you like it!

“Are you coming to the party this weekend?” Isabel asked as the club walked home.

“Party?” Max was half confused about the event and half annoyed Isabel thought he knew what she was talking about.

“Oh yeah!” Isabel exclaimed, “The dojo does an end of the year party every year.”

“That sounds like a lot of people I don’t know in a group.”

“But it’s always good fun!” Ed was weirdly excited about it.

“No it’s not,” Isaac was not amused.

“You’re just saying that because I put ice down your back last year.”

“Yes! That is exactly why I’m saying it!”

Max snickered at Isaac and Ed’s banter.

“So, are you going again this year?”

“Unfortunately,” Isaac sighed, “My parents think it’s good for me to go.”

“Are you coming?” Isabel seemed to be bouncing with excitement.

“I guess,” Max shrugged.

In reality, it was just to see Isaac more. They hung out at school, but it wasn’t enough. When they weren’t snarking at each other they got on like wildfire. Literally in the one case when Max put his head on Isaac’s shoulder which caused the latter to accidentally shoot a bolt of lightning and set a pile of leaves on fire. Isaac had put it out with a few rain clouds, but that didn’t stop the two of them laughing about it.

“And remember to dress up nicely,” Isabel yelled as they parted ways.

That ground Max to a halt. They needed to dress up nicely. Isaac would be there. Isaac would be dressed up nicely. Not that Isaac didn’t dress up nicely normally, way more than the normal thirteen year old, but he would be dressed up even nicer.

“You ok?” Isaac poked Max in the side.

“Fine! I’m fine!” Max started to walk faster than was strictly necessary so Isaac couldn’t see the blush on his face.

“Alright,” Isaac accepted skeptically, “I’m gonna give Doorman a visit. See you tomorrow!”

Max gave a wave over his shoulder as he continued to the corner store, Isaac tumbling down the hill.

\---

Max regretted coming to the party as soon as his dad dropped him off. There were people, spirits, and ghosts all filling up the yard of the dojo, as well as inside of it. He had never been a people person, and that most certainly had not changed in the last few hours. Taking a deep breath, Max ventured into the house, in the hopes of finding someone he knew. Luckily he had only taken a couple of steps inside before Isabel dragged him by the collar to the side.

“Glad to see you made it!” she had to yell a bit for Max to hear her over the noise of the party.

“Despite my best attempt to convince my dad that this was going to ruin my social career, yes, I am here,” the two of them shared a smile.

“So, uh, have you seen Isaac yet?” Max tried to ask nonchalantly.

“Just arrived and you’re already looking for your boyfriend,” Isabel teased.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Max mumbled.

“Yeah, and I’m not Ed,” Ed said from wherever he had been hiding, “Anyways he’s over there.”

Over there ended up being in the middle of the crowd talking to someone Max couldn’t recognize. He was also dressed up. He had a light blue button up shirt on, with sleeves rolled up to his elbows and plain khakis. Isaac had no right to look that hot in such a simple outfit, but somehow it set Max’s heart aflutter.

“I bet you’re thinking about how hot he looks in that shirt,” Isabel whispered yelled in his ear.

“What? No!” Max screamed, flinging his hands around.

He screamed so loud in fact that Isaac heard him and turned his way with a wave to whomever he had been talking to, coming over. Up close, Isaac looked just as hot as he had from far away.

“I’ve been looking for you,” Isaac pointed his finger at Isabel.

“You aren’t going to make any new friends if you always hang around us.”

“I’m not here to make friends,” Isaac tried to point out, but Isabel and Ed had somehow disappeared into the crowd.

“And they’re gone,” Isaac muttered.

“Now it’s just the two of us against this mass of people and noise called a party,” it wasn’t up to Max’s usual level of snark, but it made Isaac chuckle, which was a win in Max’s book.

“Do we have a plan or are we going to become wallflowers and hope Isabel doesn’t do anything stupid that comes back to haunt us?”

“Becoming a wallflower doesn’t seem like too bad an idea,” Max leaned against the wall.

That must have been the wrong thing to say because Isaac’s face fell a little. Not enough that most people would notice, but Max wasn’t most people.

“I mean, unless you wanted to do something else,” Max tried.

“Nah, it’s nothing,” Isaac was not convincing in the slightest.

“What? Did you want to dance?”

“No.”

Ok. Isaac clearly wanted to dance. Max, however, had no clue how to dance. Heck, it took him multiple months to just learn the Macarena. There was no way he could dance with Isaac. And yet Max had no impulse control when it came to Isaac, and Isaac looked like he really wanted to dance.

“Let’s dance,” Max sighed, dragging Isaac into the fray of people.

A bright smile grew on Isaac’s face, and Max knew he’d made the right choice.

\---

“You are a terrible dancer,” Isaac laughed as Max pulled him outside.

“I warned you,” it wasn’t an accusatory tone, Max was laughing just as hard.

It had been fun dancing with Isaac. A complete mess, but a fun mess.

“Can I be serious?” Isaac asked for a second as the two of them leaned against the trees.

“Of course.”

“I want to thank you for being my friend. I made a horrible first impression, and probably a horrible second impression as well, but you were still there for me. I’ve made a million mistakes since we’ve met, yelled at you a million times, but you're still here. Despite everything I’ve done, you still think of me as your friend, still always ready to snark at me when I need some cheering up.”

“Are you going all sentimental on me?” Max teased.

“Yes, yes I am.”

Against his better judgement Max gave Isaac a hug. Normally Max didn’t like hugs, too touchy feely, but as with everything else, it was different with Isaac. With Isaac the hug felt warm and inviting. If there weren’t at a party Max might have even made a happy noise. When they broke apart Max couldn’t help but feel a little sad.

“I’ll be right back,” Isaac ran away into the crowd, leaving Max looking like a loner under a tree.

He came back a few minutes later, but it was with a sad look on his face

“Sorry, my parents say I have to go now.”

An expression flickered across Isaac’s face before he kissed Max on the cheek before quickly turning around and running back to his parents. What he didn’t see was Max’s face flushing bright red, unable to think of a comeback. Embarrassed, Max went back into the party where Isabel found him.

“So I was right. You thought Isaac looked hot in that shirt.”

Isabel laughed as Max punched her in the arm.


	2. The Extras

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> These are little bits and pieces I came up with while writing the main story. I almost wrote a whole other fic set in the future where the two of them have been coming to the party for years.

Max pushed Isaac against the wall in the corner of the room. One hand was against the wall, but the other was under Isaac’s shirt. Their bodies were close, closer than they had ever been before.

“You, are really close,” Isaac started the obvious.

“Do you not want me to be?” Max asked, head tilted slightly.

“No.”

“Good.”

Max kissed Isaac for all he had, Isaac reciprocating. The two of them spent the rest of the party like that, holed up in their little corner. That is, until Isabel came along.

“You know we have rooms,” she said, surprising the two.

“We weren’t doing anything!” Isaac blurted out of habit.

Max had to hide his head in Isaac’s shoulder to stifle his laughter. To Isaac’s credit, his face was a bright red.

(This is an AU for if they were a lot older. Older as in it’s their sixth year going. Max is 18, Isaac is 19, both are still dorks. They didn’t do anything. They literally just kissed. Max is only doing the hand thing because that’s what people do in the cheesy rom-coms Isaac makes him watch. Is that even comfortable?)

\---

Isaac ran back up to Max, "Sorry, my parents say I have to go. It was fun dancing." 

An unreadable expression flickered across his face before he kissed Max and turned to leave. 

"Hold on a sec," Max grabbed Isaac's arm, "Aren't you going to wait for a response?" 

And, without waiting for a response, Max kissed him back. Isaac's face lit up bright red, and Max couldn't help but feel smug about getting the last word in. Isaac was too embarrassed to do anything as Max walked back into the party. 

"So I was right that you thought Isaac looked hot in that shirt," Isabel teased, laughing even more when Max punched her back.

(This is just a little AU for if Isaac actually had more backbone and maybe if they were in high school.)

\---

Isaac tugged at his sleeves. He wasn’t dressed up  _ too _ nicely, was he? He’d chosen to wear his favorite button up with a plain pair of khakis. Hopefully Max would like the look. Hopefully Max would even be there in the first place. Only the idea that Max was going to be there in the first place was why Isaac was going. Seeing Max dressed up would make everything worth it. With one last look into the mirror, Isaac was off.

(This is just a bit of Isaac being adorable because he’s absolutely adorable.)


End file.
